Laaro Sets Milwaukee Program Record as Panthers Impress

INDIANAPOLIS--Simbi Laaro set a school and fieldhouse record in the first meet of the season in the John Tierney Triangular at the Klotsche Center Friday night. UIC, Oakland, Wright State, and Detroit were also in action over the weekend.

John Tierney Triangular
Simbi Laaro wowed the large crowd at the Klotsche Center with a blazing time of 7.50 in the 60m to break both the UWM record and the Klotsche record, both previously set by Laaro in 2012. CherRay Dixon was third at 7.93 and Anuli Okonkwo was fourth in 8.06.

Milwaukee swept the top-three spots in the 60m hurdles. Chelsea Maxey won the sprint hurdle event, crossing the line in 9.14 seconds, just ahead of Sherice Hewett at 9.21. Freshman Morgan Torrence placed third for the Panthers at 9.62 seconds.

UWM also claimed the top spot in weight throw. Senior Nancy Harmon cruised to victory after an outstanding toss of 17.02m (55-10 ¼) on her final throw to win the event by nearly three feet.

Hewett placed second in both jumping events on the night. In triple jump, the junior just missed the top spot with a leap of 11.81 (38-9). Then, in long jump, Hewett again finished runner-up after a mark of 5.30m (17-4 ¾). LaBreya Johnson was right behind at 5.27m (17-3 ½) for third.In the 300m, sophomore Anuli Okonkwo just missed the top spot on the podium with a time of 41.49 for second.

The Panthers' 4x400m relay team also had a runner-up finish. Laaro, Dixon, Garner and Okonkwo combined to post a time of 4:03.15 for second place overall Friday.

Milwaukee finished the meet 1-1, beating UIC but falling to Marquette, 84-49.

The Milwaukee men's track & field team kicked off its 2014 season in outstanding fashion, beating both UIC and Marquette.

UWM won eight of the 13 events on the night and beat UIC by a score of 89-27. The Panthers also took down crosstown rival Marquette, 78-55.

"I'm just really pleased with the first meet of the season results. I think we came out stronger than ever, and that's the main thing," Milwaukee head coach Pete Corfeld said. "Obviously our sprint squad and our hurdle squad were strong, but I thought through and through, all the events had nice openers."

Milwaukee took the top-six spots in the 60m hurdles despite All-American Durell Busby not finishing the race. Alex Delveaux moved into a tie for second in school history with a winning time of 8.05 seconds, tying him with fellow senior Dexter Schleis. Schleis came in second in the event at 8.06, while junior Jordan Schmidt was third at 8.11, a new personal best and improving on his already fifth-place standing in UWM history.

Schleis also moved into third place in Panther history in the 300m, crossing the line at 35.39 for second place. Sophomore Davontae Johnson was fourth at 35.94 and senior Anthony Leavy was fifth at 35.96.

The Panthers took the top-two spots in the 3000m run, one of the most thrilling events of the night. After a back-and-forth race the entire time, newcomer Caleb Abfall won the event comfortably in 8:45.63. Senior Jake Reilly came from behind down the home stretch to take second in 3:48.13 and freshman Vince Paikowski was fourth at 8:53.64.

Matt Ferry (6.97) was first and J. Schmidt (7.03) second in the 60m.

Marquis Johnson won the 600m in 1:22.18, just edging out teammate Jeff Pigg (1:22.80). Freshman Taylor Koss was fourth at 1:23.53.

In the mile, Reed Schmidt just missed a spot on the all-time top-10 list with a final time of 4:16.77 for second. Senior Sam Leschisin was right behind at 4:18.56 for third.

In the final event of the night, Milwaukee coasted to victory in the 4x400m relay. J. Schmidt, Koss, D. Johnson and M. Johnson combined to post a winning time of 3:29.51, nearly eight seconds ahead of second place.

In field events, Aaron Dillon nearly posted a career best in the first meet of the season in triple jump. Dillon cleared 14.90m (48-10 ¾) on his final jump to record an easy win and finish within a foot of his PR.

Freshman Nate Pozolinski won his first collegiate event by taking first in the long jump with a mark of 6.63m (21-9).

Junior Alex Chollet took the top spot in shot put with a toss of 15.06m (49-5) on his second-to-last throw.

The Panther men's and women's return to the action next weekend, heading to the John Craft Invite hosted by Eastern Illinois next Saturday.

For the Flames, the men's track & field team was led by senior Ryan Blackmon who bested 14 runners in the 300-meter dash to capture the top spot, clocking in at 35.38 seconds.

Martin Hunter (7.23 seconds), Blackmon (7.26 seconds) and Mick Graham (7.37 seconds) dominated in the 60-meter dash, all men finishing within the top-seven spots.

Junior Seyi Ogunleye took second in the triple jump, leaping a distance of 14.2 meters.

The Flames return to action Jan. 31, when they travel to Kenosha, Wis., for the Carthage Invitational.

Dick Pond-Lewis Invitational
The UIC women's track & field team and a few members of the men's squad participated in the Lewis Invitational Friday evening.  The women captured three first-place titles and the men took home two.

"I am very excited about the performances because for much of the team it was their first time on the track this season," said head coach Jim Knoedel.  "The women's team was impressive, dominating the 800-meter dash, 1-mile run and the 3,000-meter run."
Rebecca Zaiter competed in the 800-meter run placing first with a time of 2:15.57.  Tess Ehrhardt also took home the title in the one-mile run clocking in at 5:06.25.

Emma Preston and Lauren Lindholm participated in the 3,000-meter run, placing first and third with times of 10:45.50 and 10:58.10, respectively.
Richmond Richter and Christian Saporiti were the two men's track members to travel to the Lewis Invite, both taking home first place in their events.  Richter competed in the triple jump leaping a distance of 14.61 meters for the win.  Saporiti set a personal record in the shot put, with a distance of 14.77 meters.

"I am very happy with Richmond's win in the triple jump because he started at where he finished last year," said coach Knoedel.  "Christian had a huge PR in the shot put to notch his first collegiate win."

Jack Skoog Open
Nicholas Girodat recorded a new school record in the men's 200-meter dash with a second-place finish of 22:58 while teammate Chris Scott ran an exceptional meet with an individual win in the 800m (1:55.89) and a relay victory as the anchor of the 4x400 team that recorded a 3:25.53. Both the Oakland men's and women's teams took second to host, Central Michigan 92-46 and 85-45 respectively.

"This was a great meet overall," commented head coach Paul Rice. "Probably the highlight of the meet was the men's 4x400 race - to see the entire team on the track cheering for our guys was really great. Many of our athletes had excellent performances today, which gives us a lot to look forward to heading into next week's meet at Fort Wayne."

Serena San Cartier won the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.00. Also for the women, Meagan Joiner had a great meet all around, competing in four events - the 60m hurdles, 600m run, the long jump and the triple jump - and ended with strong performances in each.

Oakland competes next at  IPFW for the IPFW Quad Meet on Saturday, Jan. 25 inside the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.

Northwest Ohio Invitational
The Wright State track & field team competed Friday at the Northwest Ohio Invitational, which was held at the Malcolm Athletic Center in Findlay.

Leading the way for the Raiders was Kacia Grant, who won the 60 meter dash and finished second in the 300 meter dash.  Sarah-Ann Blount was third in the 60 meter hurdles and fourth in the long jump while Maria Harrison was third in the shot put and Kaley Moss third in the pole vault.

The next action for Wright State will be the Youngstown State Invitational on Friday, January 24.

R. Simmons / J. Harvey Invitational
The Detroit men’s and women’s track & field teams took part in the R. Simmons / J. Harvey Invitational hosted by the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. on Saturday afternoon.

In the 3000m run, Austin Wigent held on for the win making his event debut with a time of 8:50.69. Also, in the race, sophomore Derek Gielarowski set a personal best with a run of 8:53.97 and placed third.

Another highlight for Detroit came in the shortest race of the day in the 60m. Senior Charles Anthony ran 7.04 and freshman Brandon Wilks had 7.09 to advance to the finals. In the finals, Anthony finished fifth at 7.00 and Wilks was seventh at 7.03 in a competition that was won by US Olympian, Jeff Porter, with a time of 6.77.

Anthony also had a time of 22.34 in the 200m and had a third place finish.

Freshman Ilia Panev won his heat in the 60m hurdles with a time of 8.61. Freshman Jacob Whitting set a personal record in the same race with a time of 9.01. Senior Steven Ivanics was right in the middle of the two times at 8.64.

In the weight throw, junior Colin Cashner tossing 15.10m improving on his personal best set last week at Eastern Michigan while sophomore Jake Millyard made his season debut in the event at 14.01m.

On the women’ side, Ashley Bussing launched a toss of 12.21m becoming just the 14th Titan to reach beyond the 40 foot mark. With her throw, she now has the 12th best all-time toss in the Detroit record books.

Bussing was not the only highlight for the women as for the second straight week, graduate student Shannon Marchant had a strong showing. Marchant ran the 600m race setting a personal best of 1:36.84 and now holds the No. 2 all-time mark in theTitan top ten.

In the 60m dash, sophomore Allison Garner ran 7.90 to advance to the finals. In the finals, Garner improved on her time to 7.89 and finished sixth.

Freshman Natalie Peterson scored a heat win in the 60m hurdles with a time of 9.90.

In the mile run, senior Louisa Coppola had 5:02.90 to come in sixth and freshman Devon Sutton had a time of 5:27.90.

In the 4x400m relay, Hart, freshman Jayona Dent, Marchant, and Greene combined for a time of 3:59.81 and a fifth place finish.

Detroit is in action next at the IPFW Quadrangular on Jan. 25.